Electronic communications devices such as mobile phones and the like provide communications functionality in accordance with one or more cellular telephone systems. These telephone systems may include Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) systems, Universal Mobile Telephone System (UMTS) systems, Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) systems, Advanced Wireless Services (AWS) systems, and others. Certain frequency bands of the radio frequency spectrum have been allocated to electronic communications devices, and these telephone systems operate at different frequencies within those allocations.
In cellular telephone communication systems a mobile device such as a mobile phone is sometimes referred to as a mobile station. Mobile devices/stations communicate in such systems via so-called base stations. Communications from a base station to a mobile device may be referred to as a downlink (DL) communication, and communication in the other direction, from a mobile device to a base station, may be referred to as an uplink communication. A particular telephone system typically has different downlink and uplink frequencies.
Each system may have a number of variations. For example, GSM includes GSM-850 (sometimes called GSM-800) and GSM-1900, both used in the United States and many other countries in the Americas. GSM-850 uses 824-849 MHz to send information from the mobile station to the base station (uplink) and 869-894 MHz for the other direction (downlink). GSM-1900 uses 1,850-1,910 MHz to send information from the mobile station to the base station (uplink) and 1,930-1,990 MHz for the other direction (downlink).
In order for an electronic communications device to operate reliably in a particular frequency band, antennas are required that may be precisely tuned to operate in the desired frequency band.
A typical electronic communications device can communicate using more than one telephone system and thus over more than one frequency. As such, a typical electronic communications device will require multiple antennas, each of which may be tuned to an appropriate frequency band. For example, Apple, Inc. sells various models of its iPhone 6, including GSM Models supporting:
UMTS/HSPA+/DC-HSDPA (850, 900, 1700/2100, 1900, 2100 MHz) and GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz); and CDMA Models supporting CDMA EV-DO Rev. A and Rev. B (800, 1700/2100, 1900, 2100 MHz); UMTS/HSPA+/DC-HSDPA (850, 900, 1700/2100, 1900, 2100 MHz); GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz). Two other models (Models A1586, A1524) support: CDMA EV-DO Rev. A and Rev. B (800, 1700/2100, 1900, 2100 MHz); UMTS/HSPA+/DC-HSDPA (850, 900, 1700/2100, 1900, 2100 MHz); TD-SCDMA 1900 (F), 2000 (A); and GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz).